


We Made It

by asmaanixx



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, Old Age
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-05-06
Packaged: 2018-10-28 21:18:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10839642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asmaanixx/pseuds/asmaanixx
Summary: Over the course of fifty years that Lance has known Keith, he has known one absolute fact about him: he isn't the type to get emotional easily.





	We Made It

**Author's Note:**

> Not gonna lie, I teared up during many moments of writing out this piece.

Over the course of fifty years that Lance has known Keith, he has known one absolute fact about him: he isn't the type to get emotional easily.

That is not to say the man had been conditioned not to emote due to the socialized image of frail masculinity. Rather, as Lance had found out, Keith hadn't been taught how to express himself openly. Having to be shuffled off from one foster home to another, a childhood filled with bullying and adults doing nothing but lower his self-esteem, Keith had been efficiently primed in being the poster boy for troublesome children. Needless to say their own relationship had started off to a rocky start but one thing had led to another and they had started dating. Once they had... well, there was not much standing in their way before they fell headlong into an intense and passionate romance. It truly was something out of the novels.

Lance took Keith's hand in his own, and rubbed a thumb over the back of his knuckles.

There used to be a time when there was a stark difference in their touch. His were always calloused and hard, a constant reminder of the rigorous labor he had put into the day. Lance couldn't even bear the sight of seeing a blister or small patch of ripped skin. He had to moisturize on a daily basis if he wanted to feel whole and healthy. Keith had once commented on him spending too much time in the bathroom 'doing god knows what' which had provoked Lance to launch into a very detailed explanation as to why personal beauty care is so important to the body. Of course Keith had fallen asleep halfway through Lance's speech but even he didn't dare complain when his face would be glowing and feeling light.

Now there wasn't much difference. His veins were showing just as much as his. The purple and blue mixed with hints of red, colored them both. Lance had been scared when he couldn't see Keith as well as he used to in the dead of night. It had scared Keith too. They hadn't been able to say much to alleviate their crying. But then Keith had reached out to wipe away Lance's tears and then didn't stop until he had traced his whole face. When Lance had asked him what he was doing, Keith had said he was memorizing him with his whole body. It had been such a simple answer but it had tugged Lance's heart in a whole new manner. Lance had fallen in love with Keith all over again and in that moment he didn't feel defeated by his old age at all. He had felt more younger and more alive and just so damn lucky that the man he had fallen in love with around forty years ago still held the same love for him.

"Lance," Keith spoke, his eyes remaining fixed on the sight of their grandchildren playing along the beach.

"Hmm."

"We made it." Lance echoed Keith's cracking voice with his own watery eyes.

There he went again, making Lance fall in love with him as if it was for the first time. Keith wasn't a man of many words but when he did speak, it was nothing but the truth. There may have been a time when Lance had doubted Keith's promises of 'eternal love' or 'experiencing the old age together'. It had only been natural for him to do so. Their situations at the time of those promises hadn't been particularly preferable nor practical. They had only been words for Lance, used to motivate himself to keep going and believing their relationship stood a chance. Now they no longer stand as promises. They are prophecies come true.

"Yes, we did." Lance rested his head against Keith's shoulder and gave their clasped hands a light squeeze.

They smiled together as one of their granddaughters was being chased by her younger siblings, who clearly had no intention of leaving her without being thoroughly soaked by their water guns.

The sizzle and smoke of barbecued food wafted through the air, and the waves crashed with their sea salt against the sandy beach.

"Thank you." Lance spoke for there truly was nothing more for him to say.

Feeling a slight nudge of his hand, Lance tilted his head up to see the same violet-gray orbs that he had been honored to be so intimate with for the past fifty years.

"No, thank _you_." Keith whispered, his voice cracking in the end.

Lance didn't want to think about what was motivating Keith to say such words. It hurt him too much to do so.

So he held back any more tears from gracing his face and slightly lifted himself up to give his partner of over fifty years, a sweet, chaste kiss.


End file.
